Private Pilot

Private Pilot

Why should you fly? As a pilot utilizing personal aviation, you can streamline your work days and redefine your weekends. Regional travel means long, unproductive car trips or withering commercial air travel. But with a Private Pilot’s license, it is speed, freedom, convenience, and control.

You will be able to go places you never thought you could go during a weekend, or conduct business trips to multiple locations in a single day. So forget the two-day travel time for that meeting. Conduct business 500 miles away, and be home in time for dinner. Toss the clubs or skis and your family in your personal aircraft, and make the most of your time off.

Depart from local, more convenient airports

Commercial airlines only serve select airports. With your Private Pilot’s License, you can fly to more than 5,000 public airports in the United States, and many more if you fly in Canada, Mexico, Europe, South America and other regions.

Spend less time at the airport

Forget the two to three hours lost at commercial airports, not to mention the inconvenience of parking, taking a bus to the terminal, standing in line to check in, standing in line again to pass security and then waiting at the gate until the airplane is ready to board.

Travel on your schedule, not the airline’s

You can pull your car right next to your airplane, throw in your bags, conduct a 10- to 15- minute preflight inspection, start the engine and taxi for departure.

Fly directly to your destination, bring your family and friend and never miss a flight!

Adventure, Travel, Food, Family, Fun – What can flying give you?

A new world opens to people who fly airplanes. New freedom. New Challenge. New Friends. New Destinations. Learning to fly takes a commitment of time and resources but the rewards far exceed the costs. Every step of the process is fun and challenging. Come out and take a test flight and join the exclusive club of pilots. Stop waiting and start flying.

Obstacles

Time: Full-Motions Simulators, modern aircraft, and experienced instructors allow for training that is tailored to your schedule and highly efficient with your time.

Money: It’s worth it. We have guaranteed programs to lower costs. Financing is also available.

Eligibility requirements: General.

(a) Be at least 17 years of age for a rating in other than a glider or balloon.

(b) Be at least 16 years of age for a rating in a glider or balloon.

(c) Be able to read, speak, write, and understand the English language. If the applicant is unable to meet one of these requirements due to medical reasons, then the Administrator may place such operating limitations on that applicant’s pilot certificate as are necessary for the safe operation of the aircraft.

(d) Receive a logbook endorsement from an authorized instructor who:

(1) Conducted the training or reviewed the person’s home study on the aeronautical knowledge areas listed in §61.105(b) of this part that apply to the aircraft rating sought; and

(2) Certified that the person is prepared for the required knowledge test.

(e) Pass the required knowledge test on the aeronautical knowledge areas listed in §61.105(b) of this part.

(f) Receive flight training and a logbook endorsement from an authorized instructor who:

(1) Conducted the training in the areas of operation listed in §61.107(b) of this part that apply to the aircraft rating sought; and

(2) Certified that the person is prepared for the required practical test.

(g) Meet the aeronautical experience requirements of this part that apply to the aircraft rating sought before applying for the practical test.

(h) Pass a practical test on the areas of operation listed in §61.107(b) of this part that apply to the aircraft rating sought.

(i) Comply with the appropriate sections of this part that apply to the aircraft category and class rating sought.

Aeronautical Knowledge

(a) General. A person who is applying for a private pilot certificate must receive and log ground training from an authorized instructor or complete a home-study course on the aeronautical knowledge areas of paragraph (b) of this section that apply to the aircraft category and class rating sought.

(i) How to obtain information on runway lengths at airports of intended use, data on takeoff and landing distances, weather reports and forecasts, and fuel requirements; and

(ii) How to plan for alternatives if the planned flight cannot be completed or delays are encountered.

Flight Proficiency

(a) General. A person who applies for a private pilot certificate must receive and log ground and flight training from an authorized instructor on the areas of operation of this section that apply to the aircraft category and class rating sought.

(b) Areas of operation. (1) For an airplane category rating with a single-engine class rating:

(i) Preflight preparation;

(ii) Preflight procedures;

(iii) Airport and seaplane base operations;

(iv) Takeoffs, landings, and go-arounds;

(v) Performance maneuvers;

(vi) Ground reference maneuvers;

(vii) Navigation;

(viii) Slow flight and stalls;

(ix) Basic instrument maneuvers;

(x) Emergency operations;

(xi) Night operations, except as provided in § 61.110 of this part; and

(xii) Postflight procedures.

Aeronautical Experience

(a) For an airplane single-engine rating. Except as provided in paragraph (k) of this section, a person who applies for a private pilot certificate with an airplane category and single-engine class rating must log at least 40 hours of flight time that includes at least 20 hours of flight training from an authorized instructor and 10 hours of solo flight training in the areas of operation listed in § 61.107(b)(1) of this part, and the training must include at least—

(2) Except as provided in § 61.110 of this part, 3 hours of night flight training in a single-engine airplane that includes—

(i) One cross-country flight of over 100 nautical miles total distance; and

(ii) 10 takeoffs and 10 landings to a full stop (with each landing involving a flight in the traffic pattern) at an airport.

(3) 3 hours of flight training in a single-engine airplane on the control and maneuvering of an airplane solely by reference to instruments, including straight and level flight, constant airspeed climbs and descents, turns to a heading, recovery from unusual flight attitudes, radio communications, and the use of navigation systems/facilities and radar services appropriate to instrument flight;

(4) 3 hours of flight training with an authorized instructor in a single-engine airplane in preparation for the practical test, which must have been performed within the preceding 2 calendar months from the month of the test; and

(5) 10 hours of solo flight time in a single-engine airplane, consisting of at least—

(i) 5 hours of solo cross-country time;

(ii) One solo cross country flight of 150 nautical miles total distance, with full-stop landings at three points, and one segment of the flight consisting of a straight-line distance of more than 50 nautical miles between the takeoff and landing locations; and

(iii) Three takeoffs and three landings to a full stop (with each landing involving a flight in the traffic pattern) at an airport with an operating control tower.